Lady Joker
by Aleyanne
Summary: "All cynism, I guess, after everything that's all I am. Cynism and pretty, magic sparks. Think you can change that?" Magic AU pairing TBD
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Weird weirdness, I haven't done anything in so long. Anyway, are disclaimers still even a thing? Whatever, I own nothing.**

**Oh and I don't speak English natively, so sorry for weird phrasing at times.**

**On a shelf**

_And if we take all these things and we bury them fast and pray that they turn from seeds to roots and then grass…_

If anything I've learned that first days do quite tend to suck.

Especially when you're transferring into senior year and are way behind in the curriculum.

Oh and before I forget to mention it, it's even worse when it's a double-curriculum school for mages.

Yes, mages.

Going into detail would be a waste, there's several thousands of years worth of history that's been drilled into my head but what really matters is that there's few of us, the humans know we exist, and like with any minority there are small clusters of humans that want us dead, and the rest just sort of ignores us.

As I gaze at the very modern, human looking –seriously, my mom would have a fit if she saw this architecture in a magic school- building, I sigh, _Hello new life_.

Here we're supposed to develop our powers and learn human stuff just in case one of us wants to live like one of them –yeah, like that happens more than once every millennia-.

I'm up to date with the human stuff- thankfully 'cause anything but chemistry is boring- but my magic theory sucks, that's not to say I can't put up a good fight, just that I'll warp energy around you perfectly and I'll still have no idea how my inner energy fluctuated to create that effect.

And that's basics, like freshman year basics.

I walk inside, feeling like a caged mouse all of a sudden.

One of the things I've always loved about myself is that I can tune the world out, so while I walk through the hallways of this place I manage not to notice any of the people that look at me.

New faces aren't common in our society.

Talking about faces, a few catch my attention when I get to the classroom, a few guys - at least there are some handsome men here- and this one peroxide blonde girl that looks at me like she wants to curse me with some pretty nasty fate –she looks fun to mess with-.

Our teacher is some gangly guy in a blue robe of the type that no one has ever worn since at least two hundred years ago, his name sounds like Freeze, I guess, I was distracted.

He presents me- by my rather horrible first name- and prompts me to greet the class myself, though I'd prefer to keep my contact to any of these beings to a minimum I'd rather not pique their interest with pretend shyness.

It's not like I won't be out of here as soon as I find a way to give my mother's spells the slip.

"My name's Aline Thropp, yes, that guy" I gesture towards the teacher "Called me Sarah, it's my first name. Call me Aline anyway" some blonde guy sitting on the first row grimaces at my tone and looks at me like he was just got handed a box with a rabid chinchilla in it – he's one of the ones I set my sights on no less- I smirk, guess I found the class rep.

"G-good Miss Thropp You can take a seat behind Nathaniel" The teacher stammers pointing at the blonde guy "He's our student council president, and will help you out while you get settled."

So he's the student council president? Close enough.

Mr Fsomething starts speaking; apparently we start Monday and Thursday mornings with magic history, which already has me thinking that I'll fall asleep more often than not. As I said before, I know a fair bit about history –my dad's a magic historian- and despite this –or maybe due to this, who knows- it bores me immensely.

True to my initial appreciation thirty minutes later I'm dozing off on my desk while side eyeing a cute guy with blue hair that's sitting two rows to my left, his pink eyes meet mine and he smiles, quickly scribbling something in a piece of paper and using a spell so it glides gently to my desk.

'_Sup Aline, I'm Alexy_

Having nothing to do I write back

_Well Alexy, I'm awfully bored._

The note glides to him and I try to turn my attention to the board, apparently we are studying the peace treaties with humans and all subsequent reformations.

Which pretty much means boring bureaucracy without even the witch hunts to spice things up, and everything being numbered very specifically.

Yes, I am a slightly bitter person.

Something nudges me in the leg; I look down to find the note from Alexy.

_Me too, I was about to doze off but my brother beat me to it, and we have this deal that one of us has to be awake in case the teachers ask something._

I raise an eyebrow, he's a talkative one. There's also a little drawing of what looks like a black haired Alexy beside the word brother.

And indeed, when I turn to the side I realize that on Alexy's other side is someone with a very similar haircut and his head buried in his arms.

_So I take it I don't want to get caught sleeping?_

The note gets back in record time.

_It's not that big of a deal with Mr Faraize, but the rest will give you detention._

Well now I know the teacher's name.

_And I guess detention here is not being locked up in a room while doing nothing._

Alexy snickers at my note, I know I'm displaying my limited knowledge of magic schools, but it's not like I haven't been living among humans for a while, so why hide it?

_It really depends, but no, if it was like that I could at least listen to music, but believe me; you don't want to help inventory the potions lab, or the manuscripts in the library._

The conversation ends up deviating into music-turns out Alexy and I have a few human bands in common- and eventually to just making little jokes at all of the old mages that just had to speak very pompously in official documents that Mr Faraize started reading aloud.

I do admit that my jokes were quite a bit more acidic than Alexy's, who seems like a genuinely sweet person even if I've technically not talked to him.

As class ends-finally- I find my ear being talked off by the energetic blue haired man, while his brother stands sleepily next to us.

Armin has Black hair and blue eyes and he is a little bit taller than his brother, aside from that they are identical.

He's also apparently big on human's games.

While I'm not much of a video game fan, I do have a thing for resident evil and we find ourselves chattering about that, so much that Alexy has to interrupt us so that we can show up to the next class –chemistry, which is frankly, a relief-.

The chemistry classroom is on the third floor of the building, we walk up the stairs while fumbling with our lab coats. Alexy chooses just that moment to bring up the worst question possible.

"Ali, you're Jonathan Thropp's daughter right?"

I freeze up, I do like my dad, but I hate talking about either side of my family. For that I have my reasons, but it's nearly impossible to avoid, since magic is only transmitted by paternal bloodline, so most last names are well known. I sigh, turning my head to the wall length window on the side of the stairs. "Yeah"

"Oh" Another thing about Alexy is, he's very perceptive, so he drops the topic "And say, are you any good at chemi-"

But Armin apparently is not as perceptive as his brother; he pauses his game and looks up at me with his bright blue eyes "So you _are_ the one that- Ow Alex!"

Alexy regards him innocently, like his elbow didn't just connect with Armin's ribs "What? We both really need the help in organic chemistry"

Armin grumbles something inaudible, apparently getting the hint, he follows the conversation "I just blew the thing up once."

"Uh huh, that's why we need the help."

I smile "You tried to heat it with magic didn't you?"

Armin flushes "It's just so slow; I don't see how humans have so much patience"

"I'll lend you a hand next time then"

"Really?!" Alexy beams up at me and his brother smiles.

"Yeah chem's probably the only human subject that I like though, well that and lit, so you two can lend me a hand with the rest"

Armin smiles "Sure"

We arrive at the classroom, a bit behind schedule, and when we go in the teacher's already taking assistance, she glares at us thoroughly as we walk inside quietly, we quickly find some vacant seats at the back of the lab and I distantly I remember that I forgot to ask what they are taking their emphasis in.

Which also reminds me that I haven't chosen it yet.

Oh well, I have until twelve to turn that paperwork in.

The teacher finishes taking assistance and stares at me; she's a stern looking woman with short brown hair and eyes the color of a tropical sea.

"Very well Miss Tropp, considering your circumstances, I believe it won't be advantageous to have you seat so far back" She shoots a glare at Alexy and he looks at me apologetically, I'm pretty sure that she's more annoyed by who I'm sitting with than where "Since it's the first class of the year and partners haven't been chosen yet. I'm designating Mr Nathaniel as your lab partner. Trusting that he doesn't object"

Her gaze drifts to the blonde young man from history class, who is again sitting in first row "I don't mind ma'am"

Suddenly I think I'm developing a headache, by the look he gives me, I'm sure he is too.

I sit beside him, not bothering to talk as the teacher explains what we are doing today- every pair is supposed to choose a chemical compound off a list and make a little of it using molarity equations to determine efficiency-.

Nathaniel and I set out to work with wary gazes at one another.

"You haven't submitted your emphasis form yet right?"

Well, he just had to start with the wrong foot "Nope" I smile

This irritates him; just as I thought it would "Do you plan on turning it in?"

I smile wider, this one's fun to tease "May-be" he gets a little ted around the cheeks.

"So you probably don't know what to put in. Don't worry It's nor-"

At that, I laugh. Interrupting him I say "Or maybe I'm just a big procrastinator"

The red tint on his cheeks extends to his ears "That's just being irresponsible, don't you think?"

"Huh? Then what is your emphasis Mr president?" I say while weighing the carbon " Have you had it picked out since forever?"

He passes me a vat with hydrochloric acid "My emphasis is in Runes. I chose it last year"

"Ah, that suits you." I put the vat over the burner and look at him.

Noticing that I'm trying to avoid the issue, he speaks up again"Not turning that in delays everybody else's paperwork"

"Which I'm sure you are responsible for."

He nods, slightly startled, I pull out the form from my bag and brusquely scribble in the vacant space for the emphasis.

I don't have very marked preferences, but I do know that I'm not going to be training in either foresight or nature magic.

Defense is not quite to my calling either, and decryption packs too much history for me to ever be able to like it, so do runes.

I'm not much of a healer either- though I do know some stuff about it- I'm neither empathic nor self sacrificing.

That still leaves me with quite a few options. I could go for combat, compound magic- which is said to be very hard- in depth study of two elements, transformative spells or potion making.

Eventually I go for the Elements- fire and air- it just about makes sense, I still get to do combat and maybe compound down the road, and the career options down the road are more varied.

Nathaniel is still watching me wide eyed when I hand the form to him with a flourish "Here you go Mr President, as you asked. You'll spare me the trip to the student council room won't you?"

He gets even redder "I must remind you that I'm not here to serve you" his voice is rougher "Even if you are a Thro-"

I interrupt him again, this time with a lower voice "It's just a favor for your fellow classmate don't you think?"

He raises a golden eyebrow. "Then shouldn't you ask accordingly?"

"Well then, please take this to the student council room for me?" the annoyed tinge in my voice is evident, but it doesn't seem to bother him

"Alright, Miss Thropp" I grimace at being called by my last name.

"Oh and could you pull out the vat? It's just about done evaporating"

I giggle as I watch him fumble with the tongs, he manages to not break the crystal contraption and I turn off the burner.

Revenge.

On the back of the classroom two consecutive explosions are heard.

We turn around, as I had expected, one is Alexy and Armin's. The other belongs to an eastern looking girl and the blonde that gave me the evil eye in history.

"Amber" Nathaniel dashes to her, though she's very much alright. People not wearing protective spells can't come into the lab –literally, there's a barrier around it that detects the spells and won't allow you to enter unprotected, Alexy helped me with mine as we were coming in-.

The blonde girl- Amber apparently- however, starts crying.

Nathaniel lifts her up and asks the teacher id he can take her to the infirmary.

The woman rolls her eyes, clearly not buying into the –very fake- tears "Leave her and be back in five minutes"

Huh, I wonder if they're from a powerful family, for all of her stern demeanor, she gave in surprisingly easily.

As Nathaniel carries the blonde girl outside, I could swear that she gives me a very malicious look.

Someone comes up behind me, a girl with very pretty long white hair; she scoffs "That witch… Well, you know what I mean" She smiles, golden eyes crinkling "I'm Rosalya, and don't worry, she's just his sister. "

I look at her with a mild expression "Oh" I smile "Then I pity him. I'm Aline, you weren't in history, were you?"

The girl giggles coyly, pushing her hair over one shoulder "I stayed the night at my boyfriend's and overslept, I guess"

Isn't she sincere? Still, she's not dull and I find myself actually enjoying the budding conversation. With a grunt I answer "Might take a page out of your book, next time" I give her a knowing look "in the oversleeping I mean"

"I just don't see why we have to know history" Her laugh is like wind chimes.

"Just my thoughts" I came into this school just a few hours ago planning to be as antisocial as possible, but maybe it won't be too bad if I make one or two friends like this. "So, what does your boyfriend do?"

"He's a designer of clothes. With magic of course." She seems pretty proud of him "Say, I'll take you to the shop one of these days if-"

"Rosa-" Someone else comes up to us, he is a tall man with black and with hair and yellow and green eyes.

They look alike, even the regal air around them manages to be similar, although he is wearing Victorian styled clothing- and pulling it off, even with his uncommon hair colors, not to talk about his eyes- while she 's dressed more normally.

"Oh, is this your brother?"

They both laugh, and the man's laugh while obviously deeper is also similar to hers, joyous, and lightly metallic "In a sense, you could say so" She looks at him "He's my boyfriend's brother"

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss, I am known as Lysander Galvan"

Well, even his speech is a little classical, though that's not a bad thing, having him use slang while dressed like that would probably be far weirder "My name's Aline" I smile at him, he is quite interesting "I'm taking a wild guess that you also overslept"

He smiles "Rather, I forgot about the class. I was writing" He blushes a little "Rosa reminded me that we had to come when she woke up"

"You did peg me as a writer"

Rosa leans into his shoulder "Oh he is, and he also sings and composes and-" A red faced Lysander claps a hand over Rosalya's mouth, he stares at me.

"It is not much…"

Oh, interesting. Apparently that my senior year won't be quite as boring as I'd thought, even as just friends, most of the people I've met seem quite amusing.

"I'd like to hear that" I lift my grey eyes to his bi-colored ones "If it won't bother you"

"A friend and I have a band, maybe we'll have a gig at some point."

As I am about to answer, Nathaniel comes back into the room, and the teacher announces that she will begin checking over our results on five minutes.

Lysander and Rosa hurry back to their table, and Nathaniel comes closer, I sneak a glance at him as I bend over to start on the written part of the assignment.

"Was that your girlfriend or something?" I like messing with people, I always have, and for some reason Nathaniel is such a delicious prey.

He stops in his tracks and shudders, probably imagining it "No, gods no, she's my sister"

"Ah, ok" I smirk "I figured since you offered to take her outside when she obviously wasn't hurt…"

He shoots a disturbed glance at me and I push the paper and pen towards him with the first two equations solved. Rubbing his temples he bends down and reads my results "Well, you're good at this. And please don't give me any more disturbing mental images."

The laugh that bubbles up my throat has no sarcasm, which is a feat in itself. "Ah Nat, you're fun to mess with" I laugh a bit more "And thanks I guess, I actually like chemistry"

I can sense the disbelief coming from him "Please don't call me that"

My laughter turns into a smirk "Nat?"

He just stares at me, like he expects me to apologize or retract, and for a moment it's almost like he'll retort in an annoyed fashion but he seems to think it over and decides for another strategy "Yes, that exactly." And I swear there's a glint in his eye then- like the light in my cats' eyes when he's about to do something evil- "Sarah"

A vein pops in my forehead, fucking name. "Don't call me that."

He smiles malevolently.

Kitty has claws… So much more fun to play with.

The teacher comes by our table, she looks more than a little pissed off, apparently more than one pair used magic to help things along.

She's got a mean revealing spell.

Suddenly I'm glad that chemistry is my one good subject.

"Lets see Miss Thropp, Mr Stanbury" She chants the magic revealing spell, obviously it comes out negative. While she checks our results my mind is piecing the puzzle together, I was right about Nathaniel's family, they're both powerful and pretty much ancient.

That also explains why his sister has an air of being a total miscreant. Thankfully he isn't like her or I'd be stuck with being very annoyed in the one class I actually want to take.

Out of the window the day is shrouded in thin grey clouds, it probably won't rain, but we're not in for a sunny afternoon either. I wonder if elemental practice is done outdoors…

The teacher's voice snaps me out of my daydream. "Well done" She seems surprised, but I guess that's better that it'd be if I got her to hate me so early in the semester. "This was just a preliminary test however, I assure you I'll keep on challenging you in both of my classes"

As she moves past us I scoot over and whisper to Nathaniel "What else does she dictate?

His eyes are clearly chiding me for not bothering to read my schedule "Potions"

"Oh"

After she fails at least half the class, she lets us go. I have recess next, though Armin and Alexy bolt out of the room to attend beast studies, and Nathaniel excuses himself hurriedly, muttering something about paperwork.

I find myself exiting the room with Rosa and Lysander, who share the early recess hour – well, Lysander does, I'm not that sure about Rosa-.

"What are you guys doing your emphasis in?" Mostly I ask out of curiosity, though there's also the fact that I'm probably going to have to talk to even more new people.

"I'm doing Foresight, and Lys is in Compound magic" Rosalya says "Though I'm just going to work with Leigh when I graduate, there wasn't an emphasis in fashion."

Whoa, Lysander must be pretty dedicated though, as far as I've heard compound magic is one of the hardest Emphases, it mixes runes with transformative spells and usually nature energy, it can be amazingly powerful, but amazingly difficult to control.

We walk out into the courtyard and sit at the foot of a tree. There are magic grown flowers everywhere, every human flower type in colors that humans can't produce and even some purely magic plants growing like parasites on the upper branches of the tree –though those are heavily poisonous, eh, the school healer must have the antidote, or they'd have probably removed them-.

The slight cold prickling at my arms and the scenery give me an Idea though.

I turn towards Lysander and Rosalya, who've been quietly conversing while I daydreamed –I'm still not fully convinced they're not siblings though- "Say, do you guys mind if I smoke?"

Rosa's nose scrunches up "Well, no. Just do it downwind"

Lysander just looks at me "I don't mind, one of my friends is always doing it"

"Oh, thanks" I sit a little more to the right, just in the way of the wind and light one up.

Yes, it is a pretty nasty habit. I'm not quitting anyway.

Close by an engine roars to a stop, Lysander's smile widens. "Speak of the devil"

I perk up a bit, smoking buddies do not quite grow on trees, also, if this is also the same friend who is in the band he could prove to be interesting. "Your friend?"

But by the time I ask there is someone behind me already, I can feel the presence without even having to focus.

Lysander stands and shakes the man's hand, and I turn around to look at him. Slightly shorter than Lysander but with broader shoulders, the man standing above me has bright red hair, probably dyed –takes one to know one I guess- and charcoal grey eyes. He dresses the most like a human that I've seen today, in leather and band t-shirts.

"Who's the little girl?" And there goes a good first impression.

Rosa and I rise to our feet; she salutes him with a peck on the cheek while I stand aside with my head tilted to one sight and a burning cigarette.

Finally he turns to look at me, I smirk "Who are you calling a little girl?" I can feel his eyes drift to my chest, and if I wasn't already so used to it, I'd have probably made some snarky comment about it. But that would be admitting that he got to me and I can already tell that he's the teasing kind, so that's a no.

"I guess not." Well having big breasts is good, for once, though I'm not sure how good it can be considered in this particular situation

We're both quiet then, looks like he's not gonna bother asking for my name "I'm Aline"

"Castiel Rowe" He frowns-and it's another great household name, do all kids from elite families attend here?-"You on our next class? Aline Nolastname"

I don't even know what my next class is; hurriedly I pull my schedule out of my jacket's inner pocket. "It's Aline Thropp, and I guess I am if you all have decryption and ancient languages."

"'t's go then" He says gruffly, lighting a cigarette of his own with the flick of a finger, it emanates a surprising quantity of smoke which starts curling around all of us.

High affinity to fire huh?

The four of us step towards the school building.

We are in time for class, and for this one, there's not much to say, Half an hour in finds both me and Castiel asleep from all of the history, even though languages are kind of cool.

Then comes enchantments, which, frankly is awesome but has the creepiest professor I've ever seen, she's a middle aged woman whose sole presence makes all go stiff and quiet in our chairs.

The day goes by quickly, I have lunch with Armin and Alexy when Rosa announces that she's going to Leigh's –her boyfriend, apparently- and Lysander and Castiel have some stuff to do off campus.

I have Philosophy next –human, again- In which I am apparently alone –well Castiel's on the list but he never showed up- and thus I spend it drawing the other students in my notebook.

By three I'm dead tired though it's not like I've done much, but I'm not accustomed to being awake in the mornings so maybe it's that.

I still have to go to Emphasis though, and I can't say that I'd like to skip because I'm really curious as to what my classmates can do.

Draining the last of a coffee cup, I walk into the building where we have emphasis, it's newer and even more modern looking than the main, with an air of majesty to its sinuous curves that speaks volumes of the architect, and many traces of magic left by the hundreds of people that train in it day by day.

Elementals Is done on the terrace. Rosalya warned me that they do a bit of an initiation test.

Hah, bring it on.

_And if the sky opened up and started pouring rain, like it knew that it was time to start things over again..._

**Why am I starting a series?**

**This is the byproduct of too much coffee and lack of sleep, as well as a hyperactive imagination.**

**The rating will change at some point.**

**There will be a pairing, though with whom? Even I don't know**

**Seriously I don't**

**I hope it wasn't too OOC**

**Oh and Alexy is gay in this story, Aline's just taking a while to catch up**

**Thanks for reading ~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Honestly, I have too much free time.**

**One more late night basement song**

_Consider this a letter that I never sent, however inconsiderate it seems_

"What are the four signs of natural ability?" I watch silently as one of the teachers, a man with long blonde hair and a very tall and muscled physique, yells the question at some unfortunate guy from classroom B.

I'm confused, is this test the one Rosa warned me about?

The questions up until now have been common knowledge level; even I with my self-admittedly less than stellar track record in magic theory could have responded them almost without thinking.

Trembling slightly, the boy in question lifts his face and answers "Dust, Smoke, Aspiration and Condensation" he's a rather short guy with brown hair in a bowl cut and big round glasses, someone saw it fit to dress him in a robe similar to Faraize's, which is green and several times his size, it makes him look even smaller than he actually is, not to mention when he is standing beside Castiel and in front of the professor.

"You are right Mr Hyem" The man stands up straighter "Is there anyone in the class that could show us one of the signs?"

Well, technically I could, but I'm not in the mood to show off and frankly this place is making me thirst for either sleep or a cigarette. The terrace of the Emphasis building is wide and flat, covered in beige tiles. The building itself is surrounded by a bunch of trees, not unlike those in the courtyard –they even have the poisonous flowers on their upper branches too, though from up here it's more evident that they represent danger, as they are either vivid greenish yellow, or bright orange with dark blue streaks- and separated from the main building by a good fifteen minute walk. It's also uncomfortably warm for such a gray day, and it's surprisingly humid –the one doing deep study of water are going to have it far easier than us-.

Having natural affinity is not that rare; in an advanced course on elemental magic like this one I'd be willing to bet that at least half of the group has it.

A girl steps forward, she has black hair that cuts off at her shoulders and a dark complexion, her eyes are lime green, like Castiel she's wearing human clothes –a tank top and black shorts with a colorful belt.

"So Miss…"

"Kim"

"Miss Kim, could you tell us what element it is that you have affinity towards"

Personally I find that quite dumb, it's not like the signs are vague. Kim seems to agree with me, instead of answering the question she simply smirks and next thing we know all of the dust and dirt from between the tiles has risen and is swirling around us.

I cover my mouth with one hand and shut my eyes tight, She's strong, this one.

A few minutes later, the dust finally settles down –mostly, it's in big pile beside Kim but I can feel a good amount weighing down my hair- the teachers are covered in dust just as much as we are.

The tall blonde man who's been doing all of the talking up until now coughs, annoyed "That was a magnificent demonstration of earth affinity Miss Kim, but I see that with you, we'll be working on control far more than power in these sessions"

Kim doesn't seem quite pleased with that though "Y'said to show you earth affinity. I just did."

She walks back to her spot, between two guys whom I don't know. The class is composed by all of twelve people, but I guess that's normal for an Emphasis, as there are plenty of courses to choose from –even if some courses, like compound magic, taking a prelim exam and see if they accept you, that is if you're one of the few that have the qualifications, in my case, my lousy magic theory would have probably made me fail the test anyway. Lysander must be at it right now too, I'll ask how he did if I run into him later- and our year is only composed of two classrooms.

"Indeed Miss Kim" A voice that I had not heard before cuts through the atmosphere, the second professor, a tall young man with close cropped dark grey hair and a lanky build has stepped a bit forward "In fact, given how talented you seem to be" He sweeps his eyes over all of us, gesturing with his arms "I believe we should hold a little competition to determine your strength" His face remains stern as he walks back a few meters and uses his magic to create a circular platform that rises about a meter from the ground, it must be about five or six meters across "I'll pair you off and you'll spar until I say so" he smiles for the first time since we all got here "Unless one of you gives up of course."

Oh _this_ is the test.

But in reality it's not surprising that they'd want to make us fight even if that's not what our emphasis is directly about. In any society, conflict is unavoidable. In a magic society like ours where cults and dangerous groups have been gaining prevalence in the past fifty years-and where such groups do not think twice before trying to snuff out those who oppose them- conflict is constant, we may be tucked in this little town up in the mountains for now but that does not mean we're safe, the academy has some pretty valuable knowledge and us ourselves can be very attractive bait. I these circumstances, however troublesome it may be, knowing how to fight can be vital.

Not like I want to fight anyone, pissing people off is more my thing, but I _am _curious are to how I'll fare against them, the kind of magic fighting I'm used to is probably very different to what they'll do. At least some of them must come from powerful families like Castiel's or Nathaniel's, I won't know what tricks they have up their sleeve or in which ways they have been trained.

These things are probably going to end up being far more serious than just spars, a great deal of elemental magic has strictly offensive or defensive applications, and I can see in the faces of the others in the group that everyone is eager to show off their power-well the short boy with the glasses is an exception-.

Castiel happens to get chosen for the first fight,-or maybe it's not much of a coincidence, he's been giving the teacher a pretty nasty glare the whole time- along with some green haired guy.

It starts with them in opposite ends of the platform, the moisture in the air around us suddenly condensates into little droplets.

Castiel wastes no time, he dashes towards the green haired boy with a flaming fist. I guess he's the more up close and personal kind.

The boy,-Jade I think- gathers the droplets of water in front of him as a shield.

Being that they are fighting with water and fire, Castiel should be at a disadvantage. As his fist collides unhesitatingly with Jade's water shield, it's easy to see however that his fire is strong enough to evaporate even that quantity of water with ease.

Jade however, doesn't seem to flinch, taking advantage of Castiel's reckless attack, the steam that escapes from the barrier wraps itself around Castiel's shoulder and rapidly turns to ice, locking his joint into place.

At the same time Jade chants something that I vaguely recognize as earth magic- I admit it, out of the four, earth is my worst- and from the gaps between the floor tiles small plants start to sprout and wrap around the redhead's legs. This is the basics of compound magic,-an attack which incorporates two or more elements to create one more powerful and different in nature, though for compound this is the very basics- I'm suddenly grateful that I didn't get this person as an opponent, he clearly planned it out, spreading the seeds beforehand, also, his elements are just the ones that mine hold weakness to in equality of strength.

The plants grow at an alarming rate, Castiel though, is busy trying to liberate his shoulder, he looked impatient when this all started and by now it's obvious that he's very pissed off.

Finally managing to break the ice on his arm, he pulls at the vines, unsuccessfully trying to break them, a wide eyed Jade is chanting faster each time as Castiel's gaze grows more and more heated. The Rowe family has never been known for being particularly cool headed.

He goes still and in less than a second, smoke is drifting all around us and the plants at his legs and waist shrivel up and catch fire, the air around him heats up and creates a dry pocket around Castiel- you can see little sparks igniting and withering to nothingness around him every few seconds-. Jade steps back a bit, clearly, melee is not his strong suit, but Castiel just turns around and walks toward the edge of the ring.

"Did I say that you could stop?"

Eyes blazing and still somewhat surrounded by his dry air pocket Castiel whips around "It's obvious who's won"

"But you haven't showed me all of your abilities Mr Rowe"

"Well that's not my problem, is it?" I can feel the air around Castiel heat up more.

He frowns "Disobedience will-"

A voice breaks the tension that's started building "I give up"

"Mr Barton-"

"That was my best" He says in a soft voice, one hand scratching behind head "I thought I could catch him by surprise, guess I've got a lot to learn"

The teacher frowns, pushing up his glasses, clearly put off at not being able to see if we'd rip each other to pieces. He scribbles something on his notepad. "Very well"

"Tch"

Castiel steps down and proceeds to walk right past us and to the edge of the terrace.

It's clear though that he's not the only one that's losing respect for this teacher.

The next two spars are uneventful –Kim's second element is air and she flat out refuses to attack the short boy with the glasses, whose elements are water and air, but he has no natural affinity for either, the other is two guys I don't even bother watching, already annoyed as I am with the heat and the fact that Castiel is smoking over at the edge of the terrace and I can't leave the line and go pull out a cigarette of my own until I've fought-.

On the fourth fight, the teacher chooses me with a shrug. Barely bothering to give me a once over.

He pairs me with some random brown haired, green eyed girl that wears a long pink robe and giggles creepily. We climb to the platform.

The teachers both seem bored, although the blonde one at least bothers to pretend that he's interested. "Your names please ladies" He says, checking over the list.

"Aline Thropp" He hums, but the other beside him perks up. Interested now that you know my family name you fucker?

"Capucine Asher"

"Thank you ladies now-"

"You may start" The other cuts him off curtly.

She looks at me cheekily, and the air around her is that of petulance. Huh, maybe I'll show off a little, though I hadn't planned on it.

I breath in deep and fix my eyes on her, she doesn't look strong, and decide to scare her a little to test her confidence. My arms rise above my head and the air around me gets faster and denser, everybody else must be feeling a bit breathless by now.

Aspiration. The vacuum like effect that an individual with natural affinity for air creates when melding their energy with that of the air around them

The feeling of the wind whipping around me, dancing as it becomes denser and faster, more powerful is one of the things that I enjoy the most. There is no time when there isn't a soft pull for me to just reach out and use it, it can be like this for anyone with natural affinity, if they've become attuned to it past a certain point, the feeling mimics a release, somehow it's almost like the power we have is restraining our control over an element, it certainly is hard sometimes, at least for me to not let go and use it.

Keeping the wind swirling around me, I walk towards the girl. She should start pulling back soon.

She gives me a small grin and darts to the left in a burst of wind "You're the one that has been making Amber angry all day, aren't you?"

The name doesn't ring a bell, I lift an eyebrow "Who?"

"She said you were throwing yourself at her brother since first period" Her face is twisted in an ugly pout, and she's getting closer and closer to my barrier.

She doesn't seem to have natural affinity for wind, but seeing that it's one of her two elements I shouldn't give her the chance to try and disperse it.

Ten my mind puts the pieces together; it must be Nathaniel's sister. "By far I wasn't throwing myself at her brother."

"She says you were, and then just as class let up you left him and started flirting with Lysander and with Amber's-" He eyes dart to the edge of the terrace, where Castiel is indifferently looking at us. "She says you're messing with what's hers"

I smirk "She has a crush on him."

"N-no, what are you thinking, a guy that-"

"Come back when you learn to lie kid"

She gets all red in the face, it's amusing. Keeping my eyes on her I make to step back, but find that a thick layer of dust is encasing my feet.

In my moment of distraction, she has managed to sneak behind me, I can feel her pushing through the barrier, the dust encasing my feet is surprisingly thick and now she's behind me, inside my barrier "Hee hee Amber is really nice. I don't like it when people make her mad" From what I saw of the girl in question this morning, she doesn't seem like a very nice person, but oh, whatever. "Hee hee, I could blast you into the barrier" I have seen what her elements are, and it's quite unlikely that there's another. Smiling, I call the wind closer to me, and it starts spinning faster. "Are you crazy? " she presses against my back, now unable to break out of the barrier.

"Nope" My hands find the pocket of my skirt "Though this might be a little of a mad thing to do" My head tilts back, and I lift my hand to show her a gas lighter "I'm pretty good with fire magic too you know"

"You wouldn't"

My smirk widens as the barrier closes up once more, enough that our hair starts to fly everywhere. Lifting a hand to it

Her eyes widen, mouth forming a pretty 'o' shape, just a small push, that's all she needs "Aureu-"

"I give, I give, you psycho"

The wind lets up abruptly, and she jumps away from me like I'm a poison dripping basilisk. The blonde teacher seems amused, the other one is visibly unhappy.

"You're right, I wouldn't have" I say, looking at my nails with marked interest "Or maybe…" I give her an evil look and a chortle bubbles up my throat and I step down, immediately going for the edge and pulling out a cigarette.

Castiel walks over to me, flicking the filter of his own cigarette from the roof.

"For a little girl, you have guts" his expression turns serious "But you could have gotten pretty hurt idiot"

Little puffs of smoke escape my lungs and tangle with my hair "I wouldn't have done it; fire hurts me, unlike wind"

"Tch" He frowns are the platform, the last two spars are pretty uneventful, no one's really motivated to fight, and anyway in both of them there's someone with natural affinity against someone without it, while it doesn't grant a victory the fact is that being nigh immune to one element and being able to control it with increased precision discourages most people, at least at this stage I'd believe.

The teachers let us go, saying that we'll begin formally establishing personal goals tomorrow –turns out the blonde one is named Boris and the gray haired one Rufus-.

Downstairs the students from other Emphases are also out, I'm walking beside Castiel when a hand shoots out from the crowd and drags me to a corner. Rosalya looks at me with eyes that are just a bit too hooded to not mean that she woke up a few minutes ago, beside her Lysander has a satisfied half-smile on his face.

"Well it seems that teacher's test really is how they paint it, you look all ruffled" She gives me a once over, well my hair at least must be a mess, I look down to find that my skirt is wrinkled and my boots covered in a light sheet of dust.

"I showed off a little bit"

Castiel appears swiftly beside me, as I try to at least get my skirt looking presentable "This little girl here nearly made Amber's leech have a stroke"

"You on the other hand, seem completely composed" Lysander annotates with a thoughtful look

"Heh, I got a wimpy kid. He gave up after a full minute" I can feel his gaze on me "She felt some need to scare hers though"

"She pissed me off" I defend

Rosa's eyes are mischievous when I turn a bit to look at her "Uh huh, well that one is a little pest" Grabbing me by the wrist and Lysander by the arm, she turns around and starts walking "Though I'm curious. What did she say?"

We walk out to the courtyard, it's getting cold now, and it's almost six "Apparently I've been flirting with everything that belongs to some… girl named Amber. I'm assuming she's that one bad actress from chem?"

"Yup, Nathaniel's sister" I feel Castiel stiffen at my side, he makes this noise, more like a low growl than anything else. Weak point, I'm guessing? "And that got her?"

"I trapped us both in a wind barrier and let her believe I'd set it on fire" Sadistic tendencies run in the family, when it comes down to it, I'm probably the most compassionate.

Unimpressed, she delicately lifts one eyebrow "Would you have?"

"Nope" I laugh "Seriously, I'm not a psycho, and my affinity is wind, not fire"

"Just don't set me on fire, I'd have liked to see the look on her face" She proceeds to lift an arm and wrap it around Lysander's shoulders "Oh and our dear Lys here passed the exam~"

We are approaching the school's main door now, the trees become scarcer, and the energy from the barrier that prevents intruders from getting in hums softly against my skin, I smile at the fair haired boy at my left "Oh, that's good, was it hard?"

"No, not really, though I did lose my notes this morning"

"Oh" My head tilts to one side "well, I guess that shows you studied seriously"

Rosa chuckles "That's Lys for you, ever the genius airhead" We walk out of the school and she turns to me "I'm taking you to Leigh's shop just so you know"

"Huh? Why?" She shoots me a sharp look "Ok fine"

Her face lights up and I could swear that if she wasn't so regal she'd squeal, well if it makes her happy…"I'm so getting you into that dress he just made" Somehow I'm sure this is going to be a long afternoon, but I don't mind shopping a bit anyway, with the move and the fact that most of my clothes aren't all that suited for school "And we're getting rid of that shirt"

Well that point I can't argue with, it's an old, baggy gray shirt with blue ribbons that has come to fall off of my right shoulder even though it's not supposed to, I grabbed it at random this morning and just decided that tucking it into the skirt would prevent it from totally obliterating my waistline.

"A friend of mine has a gig; we're waiting for them here, so you two can go on ahead" Castiel says.

While it does sound like he's telling the truth, I'm also pretty convinced that leaving us so abruptly has just a little to do with Rosa's unplanned shopping trip. Lysander glances at us worriedly.

"Leigh said to walk you home"

Rosalya frowns a bit "We're not children" her mood lightens up quite a bit and she pats Lysander in the shoulder "Tell that worry-wart to loosen up, he's just being overprotective"

"There have been sightings Rosa"

"Sightings? Of who?" This catches my attention.

Grunting, Castiel leans against a nearby wall "No one knows. They're some random guys with a weird emblem on their capes." And here it is, the moment when my blood runs cold; it couldn't be "Probably some idiots playing a joke here where everyone is used to peace"

"It could always be a gang"

"What gang would want anything from us?" Rosa says, lips pursed "C'mon, relax. Technically, I am going home anyway"

Night is creeping on us already, I'm not afraid of walking back home at night, but Lysander may have a point, or I might just be getting paranoid over nothing. Lysander turns to look at me, I only notice after I've been staring away for a while.

"Huh?" Then I get why he is looking at me "I'll get home, it's not that far from the shops. Like Rosa said, who'd want anything from us?"

"And even if they do want anything you can just blow them away" Castiel smirks, still leaning on the wall "They're not kids Lys"

The white haired man seems torn, but he acquiesces eventually "text me when you're home" he says to Rosa, then turns to me "You too"

I give him a deadpan look "I don't have your number" Pulling out my phone, I extend it to him, grinning "Care to share it?"

"Oh" he blushes a bit, it's adorable " Sure"

He types something in quickly and an inpatient Castiel just about drags him off of the main road as they shout hurried goodbyes.

Rosa takes me to her boyfriend's shop, she explains that he's busy with some things and doesn't like to see anyone while he's designing, but the part timers are very helpful.

The shop is big, but warm and comfortable; Leigh makes clothes with both human fabric and mage fabric. Mage fabric is more expensive, but it's proprieties are often worth the extra money.

As soon as I come in a dragon leather coat catches my eye, for obvious reasons it's resistant to fire, but unlike other animals' it's light and slightly elastic, it's probably worth a lot. Well I do have _that_ money so…

Rosa wastes no time throwing enough clothes to last me a lifetime into my arms and pushing me into a changing room.

I love half of the things, there's even this really pretty dark red dress that I'd buy despite the price tag, if I had an occasion for such a thing, but it's too formal for daily wear, and as far as I know Sweet Amoris only has one dance each year- and it happens to be an end of the year dance, buying a dress now would be weird, and I'm not even sure I'm going anyway-.

I end up taking home several blouses, the dragon leather coat and a new pair of combat boots that Rosa deemed too manly, and I happened to like for this very reason. Also, I buy a loose, long and airy traditional robe- The feel of it on my skin is lovely, people probably will think I'm a wacko but It's both too pretty and to comfortable to pass on it- that ties with a dark blue belt at the waist and a short grey dress with lavender lace on the edges.

Rosa sees me off at the door, she offers to call a cab for me but I decline, my house is not that far away, and I've always loved walking, in nights like this one –cold and cloudy, once night fell, it was llike the heat just got sucked away, that's fine by me though-. The town is not very big, and since it's mixed –which means the residents are both humans and Mages where neither is in an insignificant proportion- the variety of things you can see is remarkable, there's as much industrialization as there is at most big cities, but half of it is enhanced by magic, and the streets are lined with oddities that would be frowned upon in any metropolis.

Amoris was one of those towns that were created with the peace treaties between humans and mages. Unlike the others however, it remains proportionate, and its residents avoid most conflict between both races. Since it's located so deep in the mountains, there's not much contact with other cities and up until now no cults, or anti mage groups have formed. Though it's very cold in winter -and very humid durng the other stations-, it's peaceful; I sometimes think that the reason everyone's been able to get along so nicely is that the place itself as seen more than enough bloodshed.

The peace treaty was signed while a lot of battles were being fought, since this place is tucked so deep in the mountains, the news reached them late –around three weeks late- both armies had been fighting fiercely. One may think that mages would have had the advantage, but the humans possessed firearms and gunpowder and they outnumbered us by one to fifty, even counting the children. To this day only a handful of people can deflect bullets effectively, back then, shields barely held against them. Anyway, when the news arrived, both armies were near decimated and exhausted, the trek back to civilization back then would have been about two months since most of the towns between here and the capital did not exist, even the battle only happened because there are mines of gold here, and the ground is perfect for growing both magical beasts and plants, both armies were sent to set up a town here and claim the soil, and to that effect they'd been appointed as escort to a cohort of civilians.

The two leaders, conscious that their wounded would not live through such a trip-and that the civilian casualties had been many already- decided –not without contempt though- that they may well settle down here and try to get along, the valley here is fertile and there's plenty of water. The mines of gold that they'd been fighting over were also a great asset.

A town was formed, prosperous and advanced, the mage families that had come with the first army stayed and most became great households- now that I remember one of those is the Stanbury family, Nathaniel's- while more heard of it and at some point in the next century came to settle here –when I think of it, it's a little strange though that the Rowe family would be here, back when dad used to teach me these things, he'd always say that they were very city based, huh, who'd have guessed-.

There is more though, one of the original leaders came to betray the other, and a war almost broke out again, the towns people refused though, the leaders- and a few more people- were still dead at the end of the skirmish.

Yes, this land has seen plenty of blood, and secrets probably with all of the mage families. I wonder how it feels like for people with earth affinity, sometimes you can tell these things, when you're enough in tune with your element, although it also depends on how much time has passed. When it is a lot, earth remembers best, but when the feeling is recent, air is the one that it sticks to.

That's how I know it's peaceful.

When I get home I almost regret my decision of setting my living quarters up in the attics, the bags are heavy and it's a long three flights of stairs.

This house belonged to my mother's family back when they lived in this town- she and two of my aunts got married and practically ran to the city, they've always belonged to the kind of mages that wants to rule over humans from a stylish little chair, even if symbolically, by owning companies and businesses- and my aunt Agatha lives on the outskirts, in another one of the family's houses, where it'd be too much of a chore for me to stay because the school is in the whole other side of town.

Also, I don't share my space very well.

The three main floors are decorated and furnished in the French style that was so popular a long time ago, there are beautiful ornaments scattered everywhere, but everything is covered in a thick layer of dust, and this is not the ambient I like, the rooms are huge and it really feels like I'm completely alone here –though technically, I'm in exile, so that was probably my mother's aim at tying me to the town and ordering me to live either here or at aunt Agatha's. Though that's the least punishment I've gotten for what happened, and I'm still awaiting some that'll definitely eventually come- of these floors, the only thing I ever use is the bathroom and the kitchen downstairs.

The fourth floor is the attic; it's small, only consisting of two rooms –that aren't filled with old junk anyway, and I am not about to open those, like I said my family is full of psychos, magic psychos at that.- One is now my dancing room, and the other my bedroom.

I text Lys before opening the door, I'm exhausted and I know I'll fall asleep very quickly.

_Hey, I'm home. Thanks for worrying. How did the concert go?_

Percy's bowl is empty, so I pour a good amount of cat food in it. I have seen nothing of him since I got home, but he almost always disappears at this hour, so he's probably playing the wildcat somewhere.

I've spent all of a week making this place livable –which is an oddity in itself, because I hate cleaning and I'm messy by nature- now it looks cozy, -well despite the slight mess and the mini fridge that holds a few bottles of beer- and I left a warming spell on it this morning, so it's nice to just thrown the bags to a corner and throw myself into the bed that I put beside a newly created, wall length window –a bit of magic and the small ventilation hole expanded creating the crystal was a bit window is covered with heavy curtains right now, and I'm exhausted, I toe off the boots and pull the covers over me, an uneasy feeling accompanying me into sleep.

.

.

Morning finds me tangled in last night's clothes and wishing I didn't have to go to Potion making of all things, I'm pretty sure the teacher will pair me off with Nathaniel again though, she's that kind of person.

I get up and run the coffee maker before taking a bath in the first floor bathroom. When I'm done I decide to leave my damp mess of waves to hang at my back and apply some mascara and eyeliner, I don't bother with the concealer, my dark circles stand undefeated to this point in life and I suspect they will stand undefeated when I croak.

Slipping into the grey dress that I bought yesterday, some pantyhose and a pair of slouch boots, as well as shoving a thin black jacket in my bag, I run down the stairs, taking a second to drink some coffee.

If I leave now I might make it on time.

Well it's not like I don't usually skip breakfast.

At the last second I remember to run upstairs and grab my earbuds, another day without me and I'll probablt kill somebody.

I get to class barely in time, the teacher comes in with her same contemptuous expression, but wearing a robe this time around.

She orders us to pair up, and just as I'm about to go with Rosa –Lys doesn't have this class with us- I hear her call me.

"Miss Thropp, I believe it's more prudent if you stick to the arrangements we made yesterday, since you are after all behind in the curriculum"

Just this one time I don't let out a sarcastic comment because it's true. Potions is the only class that I'm behind on- at least among the magic ones, and while chemistry is my best, I'm not very in tune with potions. They require a deep understanding of magical flow and a strong hold on one's magic wavelength which I've never had, if it was just ingredients and instructions I could handle it, but as it is I'm going to need someone with very good control.

And Nathaniel looks like just the guy

_I never thought this day would end, I never thought tonight could ever be this close to me _

**Well this is what happens when I get bored enough, I hope you like it .**

**Reviews make Anne very, very happy.**

**I'm a very big brand new fan, though that's probably apparent.**

**Anyone see Aline with any particular hair color? I'm not sure about one yet.**


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